The Stain of Mercury
by yoshmaster5
Summary: One-shot. The trial is finally over. Weyard is safe... but one thing keeps eating away at her mind. What happened to the member of her clan who betrayed her, her city, and the world?


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Golden Sun or Golden Sun: The Lost Age. The characters, setting, and story are all owned by Camelot and Nintendo.

**The Stain of Mercury**

It bothered her. Though the Mars Lighthouse was finally lit, and the tragedy of Isaac, Jenna, and Felix's parents' deaths avoided, something the Wise One said deeply troubled her. IT revolved around the one she slowly began to hate over time: Alex. As a person, she never despised anyone before. It did not suit her personality. In any situation, she remained calm, gentle, and thoughtful. Even when Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and she fought Saturos and Menardi atop the Venus Lighthouse, she never hated them. Of course she wanted to stop the Proxians. Even after she and her companions learned the justification behind their goals, they did not regret defeating the two. To her as well as her comrades, the ends did not justify the means.

The plains around Kalay gave an air of peace. Many of the monsters she remembered from her journey failed to show themselves. She supposed the return of Alchemy played a part in their disappearance. It was pleasant. It gave her time to think of her past. What happened? What led her down this path?

--

_She lay in bed at her house in Imil. Tomorrow, she would leave with her new companions. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan... the three earned her trust quickly. Even though she was hesitant about outsiders entering the Mercury Lighthouse, they only aimed to help her. She agreed to ally with them until they reached the aerie. As they neared the top, she felt her abilities strengthen. While the monsters in the Lighthouse were resistant to Mercury psynergy, she found herself considerably powerful. She discovered why once they arrived... the Lighthouse's beacon shined a perfect blue sphere. Saturos appeared from behind the beacon while the Valeians stood watching Jenna be spirited away by Felix and Menardi. Her warnings along with Ivan's stirred the two, and their battle began. Grueling... that was all she could say to describe it. The Mars Adept proved to be a deadly foe, even though he yelled the beacon sapped his strength. Then..._

_A knock on the door interrupted her from her musings. She sat up, smoothing her blue and purple-patterned dress. Most her robes hung on a hanger near her bed, but she always wore a light azure robe over her dress. Mia brushed her turquoise hair from her eyes, and walked to the door. Outside, Isaac stood in a dark yellow winter cloak with his spiky golden-yellow hair sticking out from his fur hat. "Is something bothering you, Isaac?" she asked, hoping he would not notice the redness in her eyes._

"_I... I just wondered if you were alright. I mean... we failed, Mia. They won."_

_A light sigh of relief passed through her mind. Either he did not notice, or he was tactful enough not to bring it up, especially because they had just met. "Isaac, I... I don't know what to think. I don't know why Alex betrayed Imil. The water of the Hermes Spring returning is a great benefit, and it will allow Justin and Megan to take over my duties..."_

"_Mia, are you sure you want to do this?" he questioned, a concerned look in his light-blue eyes._

_Does he not want me alongside them? No... if that was the case, they would not have accepted me in the Lighthouse and given me some of the Djinni. Fizz helped me before, and now Sleet gave me new strength. What is he worried about? "Alex betrayed me, betrayed Imil, and betrayed the Mercury Clan. I need to know why, and you are my only guide," came her response._

_The Venus Adept took a deep breath. "Mia, I hope you don't judge me poorly about this... I asked Ivan when he joined us as well. Are you sure you aren't going to regret this?"_

_She saw the sincerity in his eyes. He... he felt this was a journey he and Garet must take alone. That is what Ivan said when we arrived back at Imil. He explained everything... the Elemental Stars, Sol Sanctum, Felix and Jenna, the Wise One, and their foes. While she did not understand Isaac's concern... she could understand why he hesitated. _

"_Isaac, I promise you this: I will not regret leaving Imil in the hands of my apprentices to stop Saturos and Menardi."_

_The seventeen-year-old exhaled in relief. "Mia, I'm glad... you are the reason we defeated Saturos. With the four of us together, we will stop the destruction of Weyard."_

_This time, the Mercury Adept knew he would notice the redness in her face. "You... you're exaggerating, Isaac," she replied, looking at the snow on the ground around them._

_Isaac chuckled, turning from her. "You'll see in time, Mia. Have a good night's sleep," he stated before walking back into the dancing flakes of Imil._

_He couldn't mean that, could he? She did not know... she closed the door and sat down on her bed once more. He was just saying that... right?_

--

The procession stopped in Kalay... Ivan was adamant about seeing Lord Hammet and Lady Layana... after all, the two raised him as their own child. Even though they knew that Master Hama was Ivan's older sister, Hammet and Layana would always be his parents. Mia sat watching the plaza from the inn's terrace. It gave her a sense of calm, and time to think. Alex... as a girl, she had a crush on him. Every girl in Imil did at some point... he drew people to him without trying. His gentle demeanor and flattering language easily won over any woman... for a time. He trained under her father for a time, but he never held a serious interest in healing magic. Isaac later called it irony, a power-seeking Adept born as with the psynergy perfect for healing. After that, he mentioned that it fit her well... it still made her stomach flutter.

Her mind drifted... so she forced it back to the reason she felt the need to isolate herself. Alex. He disappeared two to three years before she met the other Adepts, leaving her as the sole protector of the Mercury Lighthouse. Of course, looking back, he wanted someone to be distracted enough not to notice when someone decided to trespass... only one of her reasons to hate him. When the Proxians lit the Mercury beacon, he simply taunted her in his polite way. Leading her by the smell of a flower, but never allowing her to obtain the precious plant.

A small group of children ran through the plaza, spreading out from one child in the center. The remaining one spun around a few times, before dashing off in another direction. Mia could not help but smile... it was something so sweet and innocent in their game. And something she never enjoyed. Hide and seek in Imil was a pointless game... tracks in the snow always gave you away. Even tag was not a luxury until the warm days of summer, when the snow melted enough to run without much effort. However, she could not hide her satisfaction when she beat Garet in a snowball fight, much to the Mars Adept's chagrin, and Ivan's joy. She enjoyed those more anyway.

She ran a hand through her turquoise hair, resting her left cheek in her hand. They saved this world... from the decay of the Lost Age, as Kraden referred to it. A new Golden Age, a new chance for humanity. Led by no one in particular... but the nagging fear pulled at her thoughts. What did Alex do, anyway? She remembered Saturos and Menardi fighting atop the Venus Lighthouse. They fought alone, while Felix and Sheba watched in horror. After that... a tragedy. Sheba fell off the aerie as the tower shifted, and Felix dove after her. Garet and Isaac did not really recover for days. Ivan tried to help, the Elements knew he did. So did she... and as much as it hurt, she did not change them... it appeared. Isaac seemed to be around her more, talked to her, about Felix, Jenna, and Vale. In their rush to reach the Venus Lighthouse, the companions did not speak of their homes that much, only what was needed. However, once they set sail with Lord Babi's ship, they found themselves with an illusionary feeling of a never ending amount of time. So, the two talked. She visited Vale with them, true, when they left to save Lord Hammet from Dodonpa. While she was there, she never learned much of the village. Isaac changed that, talking to her about his past... part of his healing process. In return, she spoke to him about Imil. Her family, her past... and Alex.

--

"_You came during the transition from Autumn to Winter, Isaac. Of course you wouldn't have seen the native flowers," she mentioned with a giggle in her voice. The ship seemed to flow beneath them, never turbulent and very few interruptions from the inhabitants of the Great Sea._

"_I don't see how anything could grow there, Mia..." he whined, shaking his head. "I'm amazed that Imil even exists in that weather."_

"_So am I, sometimes. Be thankful we left before the winter storms struck. The blizzards are terrible."_

_Isaac shook his head. "I thought it was bad when we first traveled to Imil."_

"_That was nothing, Isaac."_

"_How did you do it?"_

_Mia sighed, folding her hands. "There is nowhere else to go, Isaac. Besides, Imil is charged with protecting the Mercury Lighthouse... it is not only the duty of the Mercury Clan but of Imil. Even though after..." she hesitated, taking a deep breath. "After he left I was the only one capable of entering the depths of the Lighthouse, but everyone paid their respects outside. Now that the Water of Hermes flows freely again, there is a new purpose to stay there. Besides... in the winter the sky lights up in a dazzling display of colors during the depths of despair... and is gives us hope."_

"_It sounds a bit like some of the traditions with the Psynergy Stone in Vale," Isaac remarked. A small smile tugged at his lips, and Mia felt a rush of warmth in her body. He had not smiled for a long time... he took Felix's death far harder than Garet did._

"_I thought it was similar as well... but you had a more important job with Sol Sanctum and the Mercury Clan."_

"_Not really... our job is... was to keep to ourselves and protect the Sanctum. We failed, and now the mistakes must be corrected. The Mercury Clan has its duties of healing... which is much more noble in my eyes."_

_It seemed Isaac had this habit of rendering her speechless. She could tell it was not purposeful. Garet always enjoyed seeing her flustered like that... it gave him something to tease her about. In return she could threaten to withhold using Ply for his seasickness, and the Adept would stop immediately. Of course, Ivan always found ways to leave her speechless, but it was a more mischievous sense. She would never forget seeing Isaac pale upon seeing a massive tornado, and start running in the opposite direction. It suddenly dissipated, and she looked around to see her other two companions laughing hysterically. She went to look for Isaac afterwards... the other two called her a spoilsport, but she knew that the Venus Adept had nightmares about the Sulhalla Desert. The massive storm lizard that lived within the largest tornado left him near death when they defeated it... at least she believed it was near death. She even transferred Fizz to Ivan so he could heal as well... it took a long time, but their leader came to. Nevertheless... after seeing Isaac's look of utter disappointment in him, Ivan never pulled that stunt again._

"_Mia?" he asked, pulling the cleric from her reverie._

"_Yes?"_

"_You were staring off into the distance..."_

_She felt blood rise to her cheeks, and quickly searched her mind for a possible explanation. "I just... started thinking."_

"_About what?" Isaac leaned forward, a look of concern and curiosity in his eyes._

"_Well... you mentioned our duties of healing. I don't know how accurate that is, Isaac."_

_The Venus Adept watched her, a sad look in his eyes. "Alex..." he affirmed. Mia nodded slowly, a hollow look forming in her eyes._

"_He abandoned me. Before my father died, he was one of the only people I was close to. Alex was... an older brother in a way. When my father passed away... I turned to Alex for comfort. He was the caring family member I needed, and then he just left without a word. I... I didn't know what to do. I went to the Lighthouse, to try to understand what lay in store for me... it was then I found Fizz. She is like me. Calm, quiet... modest. We connected immediately, and I learned from her. I am a healer, and with Fizz's help, I could do more for Imil, to return their hospitality and their caring after my father's death and Alex's disappearance. They came to help me... gave me a small house of my own, and helped me recover. After a bit, Megan and Justin even asked to become my apprentices, they looked up to me so much. In that, I found my purpose. But then..." she stopped, biting her lip._

"_We know the rest, right?" came his question. She nodded slowly._

"_I don't know what Alex is planning... I don't know why he wants the Lighthouses lit. I need to understand why..."_

_Isaac placed a hand on hers. A butterfly seemed to frolic in her stomach. "Just like I need to know why Felix wanted the Lighthouses lit..."_

"_It's weird, isn't it? We both have the same questions..." Mia muttered, looking down at his hand._

_The Venus Adept thought for a moment. "Well... based on what we have seen first-hand... I would say that people think similarly. We'll have the same questions, the same yearnings, and the same problems. Right now... I would say we are thinking almost the same way."_

_Mia felt her lips curl into a fond smile. "I know how you feel, Isaac. I know how you feel..."_

--

Their travels took them to the Western part of the Great Sea. To Isaac and Garet's delight, they learned that Felix and Sheba were alive. Not from the two themselves, but based on second-hand sources. Some even said they met them... one island, two residents even said that they performed a great deed for their village. Kushinada and Susa were their names. They said that Felix, Jenna, Sheba, and a man named Piers saved the girl, Kushinada from being sacrificed. The two from Vale were jovial on the ship, but Ivan, oddly the voice of reason as well a discord reminded them of what their goal was. The need to understand outweighed the yearning to see their childhood friends again.

Mia heard someone approach from behind her, but she did not need to look back. His presence was enough to let her know... Isaac sat next to her, watching as the children in the plaza accidentally knocked over a fruit stand. The cleric winced, knowing not only the humiliation in public but the stern lecture that would follow.

"What's bothering you, Mia?" he asked. The Mercury adept stayed silent, but placed a hand on Isaac's own.

--

"_Garet! Mia!" Isaac yelled, stopping just before he too would fall over into the abyss before him. A gale spell blew him back a meter, and the Venus Adept mouthed a word in thanks to Ivan. Mia looked up at him for a brief moment, before turning her attention to the matter at hand. She lay on her leg, that part of her body stinging in pain from the fall. She looked over to the edge, shaking at the horror that would have occurred if she had fallen away from the lighthouse. And then she noticed a hand on the edge of the platform she claimed as her savior. Immediately, she dove onto her chest, grabbing the man's arm with both hands._

"_Garet!" she yelled, panic rushing through her body. He may not be a sibling or a lover, but he was a cherished friend. Garet, Ivan, Isaac, and she had endured much more than the average person. Mia would not just stand by and let someone who had saved her life countless times before die because of her stupid mistake by not checking that drawbridge._

"_Everything will be fine! We'll find a way to help you!" Isaac yelled. Somehow, she wished it was Isaac who dove after her, but she pushed that immature thought from her mind. She would have done the same for Garet, Ivan, or the Venus Adept. It was not about a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, it was the partnership as comrades in battle that strengthened her._

"_Garet, why aren't you using your other arm?" she managed to ask, trying to secure a foot hold with her soft boots. She decided next time they climbed a lighthouse to get a pair of boot's like Ivan's... ones that would not bend or flex whenever you took a step._

"_I... there's no feeling! I think I may have hit it when I fell!"_

_Guilt plagued her mind... it was her fault. "You shouldn't have tried to save me, Garet!"_

"_Don't blame yourself, you couldn't have known this would happen!" he replied, closing his eyes. "And I would never forgive myself if I left you down here!"_

_Mia finally found a good place to set her feet. With her legs anchored to the lighthouse, she began to pull. Nothing. She tried again with the same result. Mia then decided taking up the Mar's Adept's advice to get stronger physically would be a good idea... "Garet, I'm sorry... I can't pull you up!" She turned her head to look at their other companions. "Isaac, Ivan, find something that can rescue us, quick!"_

_The two nodded in agreement and turned, to find their path blocked. Mia had looked back to Garet, who was trying to move his right arm. Then she heard someone call for Alex, and her attention snapped back to her other two comrades. Two people, one looking terrifyingly like Menardi and the other a muscle-bound warrior looked around._

"_Forget about him, we can take this punk on by ourselves!" the man yelled, a red aura emanating from his body. A Mars Adept. The girl followed the same actions, and she suddenly understood. This was a trap, to separate her and Garet from Isaac and Ivan. She needed to pull her comrade to the safety of the ledge, now._

"_Mia, I think..." he began, but the sounds of battle drowned out his words. Mia lay there in terror, knowing her friends were fighting for their lives while she lay there helpless. She could not hear the chants or the cries... until one._

"_RISING DRAGON!" a male voice yelled, and Mia turned her head to see Isaac fall to the ledge with burns covering his body... she could almost feel the bones crack as he slammed into the brick. "Heh, he distracted himself."_

_The woman shook her head. "He's no warrior. A true warrior would not worry about someone else's self-being..."_

"_Wait Karst... he's alive! Even after that blow, he lives!"_

_Karst, apparently, looked over the Adept's prone form. "You're right... it would be a shame if we had to regret leaving him alive..."_

_Mia felt her heart stop. Garet gasped in horror, able to hear the conversation as well. However, a new voice to the cleric entered the conversation. She could not remember completely... but eventually the two Mars Adepts left, along with Felix and a Mercury adept. Gusts of wind surrounded Garet, winds she recognized as a Cyclone spell. The Mars adept was placed on the ledge next to her. Mia embraced him tightly, relief flooding her mind. Her friend was alive!! Another wind formed around them, this one stronger than the last. Mia looked around to see two Adepts in the midst of a spell—Sheba and Ivan. The two were placed on the ground, and Ivan fell to his knees, a hand on his head._

"_I can't do any more..." he moaned._

_Sheba sighed. "That's alright, Ivan. Just wait here and recover..." she ordered gently, before looking to Jenna. "I smell a rat in the two Proxians."_

"_You and me both," the brunette-haired girl replied. They rushed back into the lighthouse, with an old man stumbling after them._

_Garet looked down at the slightly conscious Isaac. "I think next time, you should get a rope before you fight the clone of Menardi."_

"_Now is not the time..." he mumbled. Immediately, Mia knelt down next to him, and began to radiate a blue aura. She hovered her hands over his chest, as energy flowed through her body._

"_Pure Ply," she whispered, letting her seven Djinn amplify her powers to restore their leader._

_Ivan spoke first, quickly jumping to the danger at hand. "Isaac, what do we do about them?"_

_Garet crossed his arms. "They don't seem evil to me, Isaac..."_

"_Would they have spared me if they weren't evil?" the Venus adept asked with a smile on his face. "There is something else here..." Mia sighed, letting her spell fade away. Though healing spells were very effective, they were not immediate in some cases and they could not heal severe wounds fully._

"_Mia, what do you think?" Isaac asked, a calm tone to his voice._

_She looked down at him, relief evident in her eyes. "See what their goal is... We are missing a piece to this puzzle. We need to know what remains hidden."_

_--_

"Isaac, do you remember what the Wise One said?"

The adept sighed. "I remember a lot of things he said..."

"He told us that Alex was climbing Mt. Aleph for his own power..."

Beside her, the yellow-gold haired man gave her hand a squeeze. He understood what was eating away at the girl's psyche immediately. "Oh, that's it..."

"He... he betrayed us all. Everyone, everything..." she whispered, malice in her voice.

"Mia, don't..."

"Don't 'what,' Isaac?" she barked, turning to face him. "He... he is a stain on my people, my _Clan_, and I have to live with what that... that..."

Isaac cut her off. "This isn't you," he pleaded, a desperate look in his eyes.

The anger building up inside her started to melt away at his three words. How simple it was for someone to say that, but how difficult it was for her to think... Mia felt as if she were shrinking, trying to make herself smaller. "I... I just can't stand him anymore..." she murmured.

"I know, Mia... but move past this hate. It... it's not the healer from Imil that I care about," he said quietly, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

If what he said earlier made her shrink, those words made her seemingly melt. Not into her chair, but into his arms. Isaac held her gently, his left hand gently stroking her back. "I feel so betrayed, Isaac..."

"Mia, I know how you feel, believe me... but letting yourself get lost in hatred won't solve anything. You're stronger than that... prove it to me, please," he stated, loosening his embrace. "Just find me when you are feeling better, alright?" The cleric nodded slowly, and Isaac left the veranda. Mia turned back to see the young child from before helping the stand owner put his merchandise back in order... with no sign of malice in the child's or owner's faces. Perhaps... it would just take time. As long as she had someone or something to help her put things into perspective, she would be alright. Alex was gone from her life now, he left the day he departed Imil. She had new friends, new comrades, ones who truly cared for her. In return... she should trust them. Mia looked down at her feet, and smiled when she noticed a familiar yellow scarf.

"Ivan is going to have a lot of fun with this..."

--

Author's notes:

Yay, more Golden Sun fics! Only know how much this site needs more of them... and that a new one needs to be made. But, that's another topic for another time.

For the record, Alex was Mia's FATHER'S apprentice, not hers. It was a mistranslation that said he was under Mia's tutelage, despite the fact he is obviously much older than she is. A mistranslation like the Hsu debacle, where names completely changed in Golden Sun to GS: The Lost Age. Also changed the reactions at the end of Golden Sun... seriously, if a childhood friend apparently jumps to his death, you will be hurt by that, not forget him at the mention of his sister. -__-;

And yes, I do support the Isaac/Mia pairing. I think it's cute, so... either way, I only hint at it. If this was a romance fic, it would be radically different... besides, I like Mia a lot, and her story needs to be developed...

As always, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated!


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